—September 21—

2018 Peter Graffy Highlights

Peter Graffy spent his first four and a half seasons as the deep coverage specialist for the league's best defense on the Madison Radicals, racking up an AUDL-high 129 blocks over that span. But a midseason blowout loss to the Raleigh Flyers required a retooling of the Radicals offense that shifted Graffy to offense, a role he was familiar with as a dominant receiver at Luther College. The result over the final 10 games of Madison's season, including playoffs, was 31 assists, 40 goals, 232-for-243 on throws, 10 blocks, and an AUDL title.

Perennially underrated as a thrower, Graffy used his athleticism as a playmaker to better position himself as a handler, setting himself up for a heap of in-rhythm looks. And though Graffy is known for his aerial dominance as shown above, he really became elite as an operator in the redzone for the Radicals, shimmying open seemingly at will and punishing opposing defenses for any gaps.

- Adam Ruffner

2018 Mark Burton Highlights

Over the past three years, Mark Burton solidified himself as the premier run-and-gun offensive playmaker in the league, making an All-AUDL sqaud in each season while racking up an absurd 222 assists and 106 goals. Never the biggest or fastest player on the field, Burton has a way of making sure the disc finds its way into the endzone for the Seattle Cascades with his big throws, no-hesitation decision making, and perhaps the strongest set of hands in the AUDL.

Just look at the velocity on this 70-yard flick throw from a standstill. Sure, Burton's bomb is saved by a splashy layout from Reed Hendrickson. But it is Burton's full-field range as a thrower that allowed Hendrickson to even consider such a route. With Burton on the field, the Cascades offense had an ability to score from seemingly any position.

- Adam Ruffner

—April 12—

Kittredge Signs With New York

The New York Empire have announced that they have signed four-time reigning AUDL champion and two-time league MVP Beau Kittredge. The deal is a two-year contract with the team. Kittredge is coming off a championship with the San Francisco FlameThrowers. The Empire missed the postseason for the first time ever as a franchise in 2017, finishing 6-8 on the regular season.

“It’ll be kind of a balance of letting them be youthful and fun and getting them to buckle down and be professional," Kittredge said in an interview with Ultiworld. "It’s going to be a fine balance. Between the lines, I think it’s going to be a fun season.”

The Montreal win ended DC's 14-game home winning streak dating back to April 23, 2016—the longest active streak in the league until last night. In 2017, DC was the only team in the AUDL to go undefeated at home.

San Jose Shocks Reigning Champs

Sonny Zaccaro (eight assists, 39 completions) and Sam Kunz (two assists, five blocks) helped lead the Spiders to their first win over the FlameThrowers in San Francisco since 2015, snapping a five-game losing streak. Game Center